SK Bioscience President Ahn Jae-yong Attends WHO Pandemic Forum as Panelist

The Only Private Company Invited
Discussing Next Pandemic Response Measures
"Will Establish Vaccine Production Bases Worldwide"

SK Bioscience has been invited as the only private company panelist to a consultative body where representatives of major member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) and heads of health authorities gather.

Ahn Jae-yong, President of SK Bioscience, is speaking at a press conference held on April 28.
[Photo by SK Bioscience]

SK Bioscience announced on the 13th that its CEO Ahn Jae-yong participated in a discussion via video conference as a panelist at a workshop of the 'Pandemic Accords General Assembly,' currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland, hosted by the International Health Center, a WHO cooperating institution.

Along with CEO Ahn, the workshop was attended by global health organization representatives and officials from major WHO member states, including Saul Walker, Head of Cooperation at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Suri Moon, Director of the International Health Center, and Hani Kim, Secretary-General of the International Health Technology Research Fund. They discussed international regulations and cooperation measures related to research and development within the WHO-led pandemic accords.

The WHO Pandemic Accords General Assembly is a consultative body established to promote an agreement aimed at improving governance to enhance global health security after COVID-19. WHO has held five rounds of intergovernmental negotiation meetings. This workshop was conducted to supplement the draft of the pandemic accords, which was released last May, particularly regarding research and development.

As the only private company invited to the workshop, SK Bioscience participated in discussions on topics such as maintaining research and development (R&D) capabilities for pandemic response, cooperation among various stakeholders including establishing joint ventures (JVs) through funding, and strengthening global clinical networks and R&D collaboration.

CEO Ahn Jae-yong stated, "One of the many lessons humanity has learned from the pandemic is that crisis response must be proactive." He added, "SK Bioscience is preparing a strategy to develop pandemic vaccines within 100 days, including developing messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine platforms based on global partnerships. Additionally, through the 'Glocalization' project to establish regional vaccine hubs, we plan to create an ecosystem where vaccines can be supplied timely and equitably anywhere in the world."

He continued, "In 2016, SK Group announced a management philosophy called DBL (Double Bottom Line), which pursues both economic and social value simultaneously. Based on this, SK Bioscience has strived to fulfill its mission as a vaccine and bio-specialized company, resulting in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine 'Skycovione' during the pandemic," emphasizing the achievement.

He further explained, "By successfully developing Skycovione together with various global partners, we were able to establish strong partnerships with leading international organizations, research institutes, and companies, laying the foundation for cooperation in various future projects. Based on this, it has become possible to achieve both economic and social values pursued by SK."

He also said, "From a corporate perspective, this is a virtuous cycle and the practical motivation behind SK's public health projects. We hope that SK's successful experience can serve as a motivating example for other companies as WHO advances the pandemic accords."

Meanwhile, WHO plans to continue discussions on the detailed provisions of the pandemic accords through regular meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB). The finalized pandemic accords are expected to be unveiled at the 77th World Health Assembly scheduled for May next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.